D&D 5E Is Tasha's Broken?

[Jer]

It is modeling the physiological differences between races. Halflings are nimble and friendly, gaining DEX and CHA in general or hardy and CON. Some other races are nimble, or quick, or have keen sense of balance, or whatever and might also get a DEX bonus, for instance.

So it's modelling racial essentialism and stating that stereotypes are actually true in the gameworld. That all halfings are jovial and dextrous by virtue of their race and you're never going to find a clumsy, surly halfling who is built like a brickhouse and can toss you across the room.

I'm sorry - I can't really accept that. I appreciate that Wizards is removing the racial essentialism from the game and letting characters stand with assumptions that their race dictates ability scores when those scores are already an abstract representation of a character and don't need to be limited that way.

And there it is: the real reason why WotC went this route IMO.

I mean, I'm fairly certain that Wizards has stated that this is the case. Or at least people working for them have - that the ugly connections between the real world implications of an orc getting +2 to Strength by virtue of his race was not able to be ignored anymore. Of course that's the reason - there are other good benefits that come from it, but getting rid of the racist foundation that ability score bonuses are built on top of is a good enough reason for them to do it.

 

[Minigiant]

I think one of the biggest issues and losses of 5e is classes not benefiting from every ability score in significant ways.

If a fighter could use INT to feint or a wizard use STR to increase touch to hit with spells, then the non-prime race/class combos would be more accepted and normalized despite a 16 prime baseline.

But with the loss of "4+ secondary scores" of 3e and 4e AND the lack of new classes that have different primaries for the same "role", the lack of the 16 weighs more.

Tasha's optional race rules might not exist or non exist yet it 5e had more official classes and subclasses with different primary and secondary scores.

 

[Bill Zebub]

If a fighter could use INT to feint…

I’ve been tinkering with something exactly like this, but it’s tricky to do without simply making the Fighter MAD.

 

[Lidgar]

I can see the value of gaming mechanics that accommodate more uncommon genetic expressions as well as phenotypic plasticity in response to environmental stimuli. I also see the value of indicating what is most "typical" or "dominant" in terms of genetic expressions for a species/race. Both have real-world analogs, if that's important. As always, whatever results in more fun at your table.

 

[Ancalagon]

Tasha's cauldron has a lot of OP to broken stuff in it from the custom race, variant class, race and archetype rules and several spells and feats are also up there.

Twilight cleric is also a big one peace is also great and the other subclasses are often better than the phb as well.

The more I see it in play the less I like this book. Didn't get that from Xanathars.

So after seeing it used there's multiple things I don't want used.

Anyway that's just me. Your thoughts?

I definitely got a strong wiff of power creep from Tasha's. Then again, there were some pretty potent subclasses in Xanathar too - gloomstalker and hexblade spring to mind... but yeah, it's happening.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I definitely got a strong wiff of power creep from Tasha's. Then again, there were some pretty potent subclasses in Xanathar too - gloomstalker and hexblade spring to mind... but yeah, it's happening.

do we have a good understanding of what power creep is?

 

[CleverNickName]

do we have a good understanding of what power creep is?

And whether it affects many components of the game or just a few, and how much of a problem it is for a variety of definitions of "problem," and if it's a problem for many people or just a few, and, and...

 

[Vaalingrade]

If a fighter could use INT to feint

Mind control! That feint better be a spell and that 'fighter' better be an eldritch knight.

 

[DND_Reborn]

So it's modelling racial essentialism and stating that stereotypes are actually true in the gameworld. That all halfings are jovial and dextrous by virtue of their race and you're never going to find a clumsy, surly halfling who is built like a brickhouse and can toss you across the room.

I'm sorry - I can't really accept that. I appreciate that Wizards is removing the racial essentialism from the game and letting characters stand with assumptions that their race dictates ability scores when those scores are already an abstract representation of a character and don't need to be limited that way.


I mean, I'm fairly certain that Wizards has stated that this is the case. Or at least people working for them have - that the ugly connections between the real world implications of an orc getting +2 to Strength by virtue of his race was not able to be ignored anymore. Of course that's the reason - there are other good benefits that come from it, but getting rid of the racist foundation that ability score bonuses are built on top of is a good enough reason for them to do it.

So, you can accept other physiological reasons (dragonborn breathe because they are part dragon/ have ancestry), though? Interesting. What about a dragonborn who has lost the ability to breath a breath weapon? I mean, otherwise it is "Oh, be careful guys, that dragonborn might breath on us!"

And I am sure there are halflings out there with STR 18, DEX 6, and CHA 6... If you roll the scores (which is still the default method), you could play that halfling after all---even with the fixed ASIs.

Anyway, I won't rehash this same old tale again. It used to be "fixed, float if you want as a house-rule" and is now "float, fix if you want as a house-rule."

 

[Malmuria]

Both mechanical balance-wise and story-wise, the game's two eras feel too different to exist simultaneously.

I always felt the term over exaggeration was redundant, but if Tasha’s being “broken” is an exaggeration, this would be the over-. PHB 5e and Tasha’s 5e are still the same game, and characters from both books can exist simultaneously in the same party. Things like switching to prof bonus per long rest doesn’t fundamentally change the math of the game, just adapts to to play style. And the change is made less because “old guard” vs “new guard” design philosophy, but in response to feedback about how people were actually playing the game several years in.